Nonholonomic path planning of space robots via a bidirectional approach

The path planning of nonholonomic motion of space robot systems is discussed. A space vehicle with a 6-DOF (degrees of freedom) manipulator is described as a nine-variable system with six inputs. It is shown that, by carefully utilizing the nonholonomic mechanical structure, the vehicle orientation in addition to the joint variables of the manipulator can be controlled by actuating only the joint variables. The nonholonomic mechanical structure of space robot systems is shown. A rigorous mathematical proof of the nonholonomic nature of the free-flying space robot systems is provided using Frobenius´s theorem. A method for nonholonomic motion planning for space robot systems is established by using a Lyapunov function